


The Yule ball

by satanvale



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: BaekYeol - Freeform, Best Friends Byun Baekhyun & Kim Jongdae | Chen, Boys Kissing, Byun Baekhyun Fluff, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Fluff, ChanBaek - Freeform, Christmas, Cute Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Fae & Fairies, Fantasy, Fluff, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Pagan Festivals, Pagan Gods, Paganism, Park Chanyeol Fluff, Snow, Soft Park Chanyeol, Supernatural Elements, Surprise Kissing, Sweet, Sweet Park Chanyeol, Urban Fantasy, Wicca, Winter, Witch Byun Baekhyun, Witches, Yule
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26585359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satanvale/pseuds/satanvale
Summary: Baekhyun loves Yule. He loves the sweet perfum of apples that fills the house in the morning, he loves collecting herbs and flowers that he will use as decorations. The part that he enjoys the most is the evening celebration around the bonfire, where a mysterious and beautiful stranger will make his Yule special, asking his hand for a dance.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 15
Kudos: 42
Collections: EXO on Ice Round 1





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> Written for EXO On Ice Fest, prompt EOI289

Baekhyun loved Yule.

He loved waking up at dawn with the sweet perfume smell of the apple pie, his mum baked, having a slice of it for breakfast before going out with his brothers and sisters, of blood and not only, enjoying the cold morning air while collecting nuts, apples, pears, oranges and many other things that his mother would have used for her splendid dishes. He especially loved looking for herbs and flowers that he would have used to make the oils, in which he was very good at, and to adorn the log that his father was cutting right outside their house.

Holly, Mistletoe, Ivy, Cedar, Laurel, Juniper, Rosemary, Pine, Valerian were just a few of the herbs that filled his basket.

Once at home, while waiting for his dad to bring the log at home, Baekhyun always stole a sip of mead from his mum, to warm his bones up, and then he made garlands.

“ Just one is enough, Baekhyun and it’s not like you don’t know!” his mum always said, but he loved making them and he always made one for every room, with different styles and patterns. They represented the wheel that never stops and always turns, the endless cycle of nature and life that die and reborn, without stopping.

Always at the right timing, his father entered the house, with the chosen log.

When he was younger his brothers and sisters helped him decorate it, but the older they became, the more they preferred to go around, flirting with the girl or boy that they wanted to dance with at the celebration of that night.

He decorated the log and put it in the chimney before leaving for the celebration, that night, they would have lightened the fire up. They would have let it burn till only a little piece of it remained, then they would have hidden that piece in the house to protect them for the entire year, until the next winter solstice.

“ I’m sure that our ancestors did all of this faster, thanks to magic” complained his mother, while cooking.

“ You have flour on your face” he said, amused, seeing his mother like that.

“ I’m sure to have it on other parts too, son.”

They laughed.

His mother was right, probably having powers would’ve helped them in so many things, but their family, as well as all the other witches, lost their powers generations before.

No one knew why, some people say that the Great Mother just got tired of seeing witches using their powers wrongly, so she took them away from them.

Not having powers didn’t stop them from bringing old traditions on, they were still witches, after all.

After the chaotic morning, he finally took a seat when lunchtime came, he sat with his family and they ate the delicious food his mum had cooked, while she complained about all the other dishes that she still had to cook for the celebration.

“ If only we had-”

“ Powers!” they all exclaimed, ending his mum’s sentence.

He often thought about how life would’ve been if they had powers, maybe easier, but he liked his life just the way it was now, he loved their traditions.

“ You could become a priest” said his little sister once.

“ Like the one of Christians?” asked his brother.

“ No, what your sister meant was that our Baekhyun is so good and knows everything about our people that he could become the high priest of the clan” explained his dad.

He had thought about that, many times, but being the high priest brought a lot of responsibilities and duties, such as marrying the high priestess. He couldn’t marry someone that he didn't love, maybe it was a stupid and childish thought, but he couldn’t see himself getting married in that kind of way.

Ever since he was a kid, he had always helped during the afternoons to get things ready for the celebration. He helped to cook, to make mead, the best part was decorating all the trees around with ribbons, fruits, flowers, and bells.

“ I still think that it’s useless hanging all these bells!” his best friend, Jongdae whined loudly while helping him.

“ They will guide the spirits who will wake up during the solstice.”

“ I'm sure that hearing the mess we make and my mum singing will guide them away from us” he said, making the other laugh.

“ Well, maybe the son of light will be interested in your mum’s singing skills.”

“ Do you really believe in him?”

“ He’s the great goddess’ son, of course, I believe in him.”

Yule celebrated the death of the Dark King, the Old Sun, who reborn into the Son of the light. The great goddess will give birth to him, who will bring light and warmth, and even if the coldest of winter days yet still have to come, the new sun means that after winter, spring will come back again.

Baekhyun loved winter, he loved how the snow painted the wood in white, but a thing that he loved, even more, was the winter sun that allowed him to walk around the woods without freezing to death, enjoying the white landscape with all the winter spirits and snow fairies.

And he couldn’t wait for the new sun to be born, again.

When he got home to change his clothes and get ready for the night, his parents were already gone. His mum was probably helping with the food and his father to light the big bonfire up.

“ Oh you’re here, we’re leaving, see you there!” exclaimed his brother, wearing a squirrel mask.

Once he was alone, before getting ready, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes for a moment.

He was excited, he really was, he loved Yule, he loved the atmosphere and he couldn’t wait to show everyone his new mask, he made a new one every winter, but he was also afraid of one thing. Maybe afraid wasn’t the right word, but he just didn’t want that to repeat, like every year.

After the ceremony, led by the high priest and priestess, there was the ceremonial dance.

Like the Dark King and the Great Mother danced together generating the New Sun, young people chose a partner to dance with for that night. It was just a symbolic dance but everyone loved it, his brothers and sisters too because often those couples were destined to stay together even after that night. They said that the Yule dance brought luck to lovers.

But no one had ever asked him to dance before. He tried asking others a few times but they’d always reject.

“ My son is so beautiful, I don’t understand why no one wants to dance with you!” always said his mum.

He knew why. Everyone was convinced that one day he would have become the high priest, so why get involved with him in the first place, knowing that it won’t last?

“ Maybe I should really become the high priest” he said to himself while he was about to leave, wearing his mask.

Everyone wore a mask during the celebration, it had to be related to Yule and winter, the most common ones represented winter animals or trees.

His mask that year represented the sun.


	2. Chapter two

He had just seen the light of the bonfire in front of him when it started to snow.

He smiled.

He remembered the time when he was a kid and it started to snow while he was going to the Yule celebration with his parents.

“ Mum, will the fire die because of the snow?” he asked, pointing at the bonfire.

“ She will never allow the sacred fire to die” answered her mum.

“ She?”

“ Yes, the Great Mother, Baekhyun.”

“ You mean grandmother?”

She laughed.

“ No son, I mean the mother of all us, she made us, she made this world, she’s everything and she’s in everything. Tonight we celebrate the birth of his son, so I’m sure she wouldn’t allow anything to ruin the celebration.”

“ If it keeps snowing like this we’ll wake up with snow inside our houses tomorrow!” said Jongdae, walking towards him.

“ How did you recognize me?”

“ Do you really think I wouldn’t recognize my best friend? Also, your mask is the best, no one has it, so of course, it had to be you.”

“ Your mask is….”

He looked at Jongdae’s mask. It probably had to represent spruce, but he looked more like a scarecrow.

“ I know but my mum made it so, I just smiled saying that it’s a beautiful mask!”

If he loved getting everything ready for Yule, the rite was the part he enjoyed the most. Everyone gathered around the bonfire, in front of it there was a log, like the one that was burning in his chimney.

As soon as the high priest and priestess came into the circle everyone went silent.

The silence and the snow made the atmosphere almost surreal as if they were inside a crystal ball where the time had stopped.

The high priest put seven candles on the log, symbolizing the seven planets.

“ Darkness embraces the world, great is its power. Frost covers the earth, cruel is its bite” said the high priestess.

While the high priest was lighting the candles up, she continued the prayer: “ But tonight a New Light is born, and all the stars are the witnesses to this. Sublime spirits, planetary guardians, I call you to me, to testify of the light that is born in our hearts, today.”

He looked around, everyone was looking at the ritual, as if they were hypnotized by it. He also noticed that they were not alone anymore.

He saw some animals and it was not only them. It seemed that the little folks were interested in the ritual too, he saw some fairies, some spirits, spying on them between the trees.

In the meantime, someone had brought a pot full of water with some oranges and a white big candle inside.

The high priest put his hand inside it and started to make circles, if he focused, he could hear the sound of the water. Then he took an orange.

“ The little sun is born. Where darkness reigned, now the light is fighting it.”

He gave the orange to the high priestess who gave it to a young girl, then everyone passed it to the person sitting beside, till everyone touched it and it was back into the hands of the high priest.

While he lightened the white candle up, the high priestess started to tell the story of the birth of the Son of light.

He remembered that when he was a child he loved hearing that story and even now, he wasn't tired of it.

After the story and a few more prayers, the feast could start.

Kids ran under the wood canopy that men built for that night and took their seats at the tables, where delicious food was waiting for them.

That was also the moment of the gifts.

Like the Great mother gave them the gift of light, they used to give each other gifts, usually to relatives or close friends and it was better if it was something made with their own hands.

“ Baekhyun?”

He turned around while chewing the last slice of the sweet cake someone made.

His mother had a small box in her hands.

“ Mum, I told you that I don’t want gifts! You’ve already done a lot and we need money for other things!” he exclaimed.

“ Oh but it’s not from me” she said with a smile on her face.

“ From who, then?”

“A little flower fairy gave it to me.”

“ What?”

Living in a wood meant living in the little folks’ territory. His people had never had problems with the magical creatures who lived there, usually, they didn’t like having contacts with humans, so he couldn’t believe that a fairy not only talked to his mum but also gave her a gift for him.

“ He was so cute and shy, I really wanted to touch his cheeks and…”

“ Mum, the gift?”

“ Oh right, sorry, anyway Kyungsoo...”

“ Kyungsoo?”

“ Yes, the fairy, he told me that it was for my son.”

“ But I'm not your only son, how did you know that it was for me?”

“ He told me for my son of light and well…” she said pointing at his sun mask that he had put on the table while eating.

“ But why would a fairy ever give me a gift?”

“ I don’t know, I mean it’s Yule, everyone is more kind-hearted today” she said giving him the box.

Receiving a gift from a fairy wasn’t a common thing, so why him? And for what reason?

He was also curious to know what was inside.

He was about to open it when he saw that there was a leaf on the box and there was something written on it.

_Open it on the day of light_

It meant the following day, or at midnight, the day of the solstice of winter.

He had never wanted to open a gift like that before. He was more curious than ever.

That was the strangest Yule of his life.

He was still looking at the small box, trying to understand if he could recognize the handwriting, maybe someone was playing with him, when music interrupted the silence.

That meant that the dance was about to start.

All the couples were ready, around the big pot. The music started slowly.

All the couples took each other’s hands and started to walk in circles, never stopping looking at each other, in the eyes. It was just a dance but it seemed like a very intimate moment between the people who joined it and he understood why after that night a lot of those couples didn’t divide.

He had never cared too much about that dance, or even about having someone beside him in that way, but while he was looking at those couples dancing, their gazes, their soft touches and their smiles, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would have felt.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear someone going near him.

“ Don’t you like to dance?”

He turned around to see who spoke. On his left there was a very tall boy, his hair was so light, it almost looked white. On his head there was a crown made of flowers, he didn’t wear a mask so he could see his face and his beauty took his breath away. He could lose himself in those eyes, he knew it.

He had never seen him. Maybe he was new to the clan or a friend of someone, during celebrations they could invite witches from other clans.

“ As you can see they all dance with another person in couples and I'm alone, so even if I like to dance, I just watch, at this time.”

The taller boy smiled.

He couldn't stop staring at him, at how the snow laid on his body, making him look so ethereal.

“ You’re not alone, now” he said softly, offering him his hand.

Baekhyun looked at him with surprise.

“ Do you really want to dance with me?”

“ Is that a problem?”

“ No no, I'm just...surprised.”

He took his hand and they joined the other couples.

Their hands were touching and they were moving in circles, with a little jump every two rounds.

“ Your mask, I have never seen a more beautiful one.”

“ And where is yours? You know that people say only supernatural creatures would join a Yule celebration without a mask.”

The man laughed.

His laugh reminded him of the brook behind his house.

“ Maybe I'm one of them, maybe I’m not human.”

“ Oh, are you the person behind the gift?” Baekhyun thought out loud.

“ What gift?”

“ A fairy gave my mum a gift and…” he stopped talking, noticing that the other was curiously looking at him.

“ Baekhyun, I’m not one of the supernatural creatures. I just forgot my mask at the table where we ate” he said winking at him.

“ Oh, right.”

He felt stupid. How did he not think that?

The boy pulled him closer to him. He had such a nice smell, the smell of the wood.

“ Wait, you know my name but I don’t know yours!”

“ You can call me...Chanyeol.”

“ I’ve never seen you here, Chanyeol.”

“ I’m sorry for making you wait” he whispered to him.

Making him wait? Maybe he knew that he had never joined the dance?

Suddenly the music changed, the rhythm was faster and so were the moves.

They started to jump, to run, together and it was very fun, Chanyeol kept smiling and every time their bodies touched he felt a wave of sparks going through them. 

The snow didn’t stop and the air became more chilly.

“ Are you cold?” suddenly asked Chanyeol, as if he had read his mind.

“ A little bit” he admitted.

He felt his arms around him, his face was now hidden in Chanyeol’s sturdy chest.

“ You’re so warm” he murmured.

They kept dancing, together, and for a moment he saw his mother smiling at him while his father winked at him.

“ This is the best Yule ever!” he exclaimed when the music stopped.

Chanyeol never let his hand go, the whole time.

“ I don’t want this day to end.”

“ Still an hour till midnight, the day is not over yet, Baekhyun, come with me.”

They left the celebration behind them and walked into the woods. It was so silent, he could hear just their breaths and their steps on the snow.

“ I love when it snows, it seems like we’re inside a crystal ball.”

“ Yes, snow is magical.”

“ Where are you taking me?”

“ There.” Chanyeol pointed.

In front of them, there was a big oak, his branches were so thick that they stopped the snow, creating a refuge from it.

“ I have never seen you here, but it seems like you know this wood.”

“ What do you like about Yule, Baekhyun?” he asked.

He didn’t expect that question.

“ I love the atmosphere, the contrast between the cold weather and the warmth of the bonfire, I love the smell of oranges and apples when I wake up in the morning and decorating the log. I love making garlands and seeing my whole family together, enjoying Yule. I love knowing that after this longest night he will come because the Great mother will give birth to the light.”

Baekhyun finished but the other didn’t say anything. Not knowing what to do, he looked around the snow-covered wood.

“ You’re special Baekhyun” Chanyeol suddenly said, caressing his face at the same time.

“ Me? No, I'm not, I'm just a witch, without powers, who really loves to make garlands and steal mead from the kitchen while my mum is not looking.”

Chanyeol giggled softly.

“ I like your faith, you believe in her, in her son, it’s not just a celebration for you.”

“ Yes, I mean it's not just because they taught me to believe in it, but I can feel it. I know she’s real, I can feel her in everything, I can feel her when I pray and I know that her son is also real, I can't explain why.”

“ You deserve all the light in this world, Baekhyun.”

It wasn't the first time someone kissed him, but the kiss that came was unexpected.

As soon as he felt Chanyeol’s lips on his, it was like something inside him melted, he felt a warm wave throughout his body and if Chanyeol didn’t put his arms around his waist, he was sure he would’ve fallen.

He giggled into the kiss happily, making Chanyeol pull away and look curiously at him.

“ Sorry, it’s just...I can’t believe that I danced at the celebration and now I’m here, in the middle of the woods, while it’s snowing, with a beautiful stranger, kissing me.”

Chanyeol moved his hair behind his ears.

“ You’re special, Baekhyun.”

He leaned in again, letting their lips meet but going deeper this time. He felt his face so hot that he was sure that the snow would have melted faster than usual once on his body.

They kissed and kissed, devouring each other’s lips, till Baekhyun couldn’t breathe, till his lips were swollen and almost hurt.

“ Baekhyun, I have to go!” suddenly exclaimed Chanyeol.

What? No, no!

“ No, please!” he whined, looking for his lips again, wanting contact.

“ I’m very sorry, but I have to, it’s almost…”

It’s almost?

“ I have to go.”

“ But it’s just midnight.”

“ I know, I'm sorry my sweet Baekhyun.”

“ But will you stay in the village? Can I see you again?”

“ You'll see me again”

“ Why do I have the feeling that you mean we’ll see each other again but not soon?”

Chanyeol gave him a loving peck on his forehead.

“ Have faith, Baekhyun, you’re good at it, never lose your faith!”

“ But-”

A strange noise behind him made him turn his face.

“ Oh a deer!” he exclaimed surprised, the animal looked at him and then ran away.

“ Did you see it Chanyeol?”

Where a few seconds before there was Chanyeol, now there was no one.

He left.

“ Did he really leave me alone?” he said, slightly tearing up and almost angry with him.

“ If only it stops snowing, for a moment!” he sighed, looking at the sky.

Suddenly the snow stopped.

“ Wow!” he exclaimed.

It snowed the whole evening, but now it has stopped so sudden.

“ Maybe I got my powers back” he said laughing.

While he was walking back to the bonfire he thought about what had happened again.

“ Who are you?” he asked, touching his lips, missing the stranger’s feeling on them.

Chanyeol appeared from nowhere, looking so beautiful and kind, they danced together and even kissed. It seemed like a dream.

If it wasn’t for Chanyeol’s taste on his lips, he was sure that what happened wasn’t real, but just a dream.

When he arrived a lot of people were still there, dancing and drinking, the majority of them were drunk.

“ Baekhyun!” Jongdae called him.

“ I saw you leaving with that handsome boy!” he said winking at his best friend.

“ Yeah, he left.”

Or better, disappeared.

“ Already?”

He nodded.

“ Well I hope that before leaving, you two had some fun, come now, they still haven’t finished the mead.”

He spent the rest of the night drinking and laughing with Jongdae.

In the end, even if Chanyeol left, that really was the best Yule of his life.

He went back home when the sun was already up, before entering his house he looked at it.

“ You must be the new sun, welcome!” he exclaimed brightly, giggling to himself.

The house was quiet, everyone was still sleeping, he could hear his dad snoring like he always did when he drank a little too much.

Once in his room, he immediately plopped on the bed.

He had almost forgotten about the gift, till it fell from his pocket.

He picked up the little box.

“ Well, now I can open it.”

He didn’t know what to expect, maybe it was just a mere prank, fairies loved making fun of humans after all.

It was a charm, a little sun made of wood.

“ It’s beautiful” he said, touching and examining it.

He was so hypnotized by the gift that he didn't notice there was a note inside.

 _Never lose your faith._ See you next Yule.

C.

“ C?”

He started to think about all the people he knew whose names started with a C but he couldn’t think of anyone.

He read the note again.

Never lose your faith.

“ Chanyeol!”

He told him the same thing before leaving and his name started with a C.

“ See you next Yule? Can’t he come before it?” he sighed, a little upset.

For once he had found someone that could be special to him, but that person was a whole mystery.

A mysterious stranger that he had never seen before, beautiful, almost too beautiful to be a human, he looked like those elves that lived in the woods centuries ago. He danced with him, kissed him and then he left, leaving him a gift, or better, asking a fairy to give him a gift.

He started to laugh.

“ This must be a dream, this is so…absurd!”

He fell asleep thinking about the feeling of Chanyeol’s lips on his.

The following morning when he bumped into his mother in the kitchen, everyone was still sleeping.

“ So, I saw you dancing with a handsome tall boy!”

“ Yes.”

“ And?”

“ And what?”

“ Oh come on, I want to know more, Baekhyun!”

“ He was handsome, we danced and then he left”

“ He left? Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Baekhyun, but I'm sure he had his reasons. Anyway, did you open the gift?”

“ Yes!” he answered, showing the charm at his neck.

“ Oh, now I remember!”

“ Remember what?”

“ When Kyungsoo gave it to me he said that it was a gift from the Light. Does it mean something to you?”

He was confused, he was sure the gift was from Chanyeol, it was almost clear, even if he didn’t know why he wanted to give him a gift, he didn't even know him.

Then who was the Light?


	3. The following Yule

Years could pass, but his Yule’s mornings never changed, he thought while reaching his mother, who was already busy cooking in the kitchen.

After breakfast he went out to collect fruits and herbs, he made his garlands, he decorated the log, then evening came.

That year he didn’t have time to make a new mask, and he didn’t need one.

The high priest and the priestess didn’t need a mask.

In the end, he chose to follow that path, but he also decided to break a rule, he was lucky that the whole clan accepted his condition.

He didn’t want to be obliged to marry the high priestess.

That Yule would have been different after all, he would have not admired the ritual, sitting among the others, he would have been part of it.

The last person had just touched the orange, before giving it back to the high priestess, when it started to snow.

He smiled, looking at the sky and hoping that no one was looking at him, he opened his mouth, catching snowflakes with his tongue like a little kid.

Then the banquet came as well as the dance.

While watching the others dancing he smiled a little remembering his dance with Chanyeol and he instinctively touched the sun charm that he had always worn.

“ I'm glad to see you like it” said a familiar voice behind him.

Chanyeol.

He was there, even more beautiful than he remembered.

“ You’re here!”

“ I told you that we would have seen each other again.”

“ So, Baekhyun, do you want to dance or...do you remember the oak?”

“ I have never forgotten it.”

They walked as Chanyeol wrapped the smaller’s waist, letting him rest his head on his shoulder, leaving the music and the dancing people behind, till they reached the big tree.

Once there, Chanyeol wasted no time to pull him into a kiss. He kissed back immediately, proving how much they missed one another. They pulled away panting.

“ You’re even more beautiful and you’re a priest now.”

“ And you haven’t changed, but of course, you don’t age.”

Chanyeol smiled.

“ You know”

It took him time to realize and even when he did, he couldn't believe it.

How could it be that the new sun, the son of the Great Mother, was the one who danced with him?

But a voice inside his head told him that it was what exactly happened.

“ Why me?”

“ You have faith and...you’re beautiful” he said cupping his cheeks, slightly squishing the soft flesh.

“ So you’ll disappear, before midnight. Again.”

“ But I will come back next Yule.”

“ This is what it means falling in love with a god, I guess.” Baekhyun said smiling, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol’s neck.

Chanyeol hugged him.

“ I’m so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you but... I wanted to know you Baekhyun, I'm a god but I have my weakness too.”

“ I have a gift for you, Chanyeol.”

The god curiously looked at him.

He gave him the necklace he made.

“ Sorry, I didn’t have the time to pack it, but I hope you will like it.”

“ Mannaz.”

“ The rune of men. You gave me a sun, I'll give you this so you will remember me when you’re not here.”

Chanyeol pulled him in another kiss, gently nibbling on his lower lip.

“ I could never forget you.”

“ Happy Yule, Yeol.”

“ Happy Yule, Baekhyun.”

They looked into each other’s eyes which were turning into crescents moons as they smiled and laughed.

Midnight came by, Chanyeol left again. Baekhyun looked up at the sky and smiled.

“Until next Yule, Chanyeol.”


End file.
